MIDLAND, Texas — UPDATE: Megan Cawley was released from jail in late May of 2022 after agreeing to a plea deal.
According to the Midland District Attorney's office, the plea deal was agreed to on May 19. It dismissed the charge of injury to a child.
However, Cawley did plead guilty to criminal negligent homicide and tampering with evidence. This led to a six month, or 180 day sentence, from December 2021 to May 2022, for the criminal negligent homicide charge. She received a 10-year deferred adjudication on the tampering with evidence charge, meaning the case gets dismissed if she successfully completes probation.
Cawley will also be required to attend mental health classes and have no contact with her ex-fiancée as part of the deal.
After Cawley was arrested and went to jail, an autopsy was done on the body of the baby. The examiners could not determine the cause of death, which caused the district attorney's office to change their initial capital murder charge to criminal negligence homicide.
The DA's office stuck with the criminal negligence homicide charge because Cawley did not call 9-1-1 after giving birth in her residence.
This is all the new information we have. We will continue to update this story as we receive more details.
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NewsWest 9 has obtained an arrest affidavit for Megan Cawley that reveals new details on the events leading up to her arrest.
According to the affidavit, Cawley went to Midland Memorial Hospital for a dilation and curettage procedure. Her doctor said during the procedure they removed a placenta the size of one at least at a 36-week gestation period.
The doctor also said Cawley told him she didn't know she was pregnant and that she nor her husband wanted kids.
When police spoke with Cawley, she maintained the same story, that she did not have a baby.
Officers then made contact with Cawley's fiancé, who said he didn't know she was pregnant, but attributed blood in their bathroom and bedroom to a urinary tract infection.
While officers were driving him to his home, he received a text message from Cawley that said, "I love you. I messed up. Trunk of the Impala, they won't have to check the house. It was already dead. I'm going to jail for life."
After serving the search warrant, officers met with Cawley again. During this interview, she admitted to giving birth to the baby on Nov. 26. She also said her fiancé knew nothing about her pregnancy or child birth.
She detailed that after she gave birth to the child, she placed him in plastic bags and put him in the trunk of the car. However, she claimed the baby was never alive. Contrary to her claim, paramedics said the baby had been breathing prior to his death.
After remaining in the hospital a day following her arrest, Cawley was transported to Midland County Jail around 6 p.m. Thursday, according to a City of Midland spokesperson.
This is all the new information we have on the situation and the investigation is ongoing.
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The Midland Police Department is investigating a capital murder.
On Tuesday, MPD responded to a call at Midland Memorial Hospital regarding an individual later identified as Megan Cawley, 31.
After investigating, officers discovered that Cawley gave birth at her home on November 27. However, the infant was not present with Cawley at the hospital.
Assisting detectives and the MPD Crime Scene Unit responded to the home and located the infant’s body in the trunk of a vehicle.
An arrest warrant for Capital Murder was issued for Cawley on Wednesday, and she was arrested.
This is all the information we have on the incident at this time and the investigation is ongoing. We will update this story as more details are made available.
